


house of dolls

by sugarvixx



Category: VIXX
Genre: Body Horror, Dolls, Gen, Horror, Marionette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:35:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25768297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarvixx/pseuds/sugarvixx
Summary: Inside the envelope, there’s a card, postcard-sized. On it is a picture of a wooden marionette in a white knee-length dress, lying down under the spotlight, the gesture looks sad, it’s like she is trying to console herself, hiding her face in her arms. On top of it, there’s a promotional title written with the classic block letters: ‘Mary’s Grief: a puppet show’
Kudos: 3





	house of dolls

**Author's Note:**

> hi, this work is in the line-up for my spooktober series project. however, today's heartbreaking news is too much for me and I don't feel motivated to finish what I started. therefore, I am posting whatever readable works I have in the draft unbeta'd. enjoy :)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI2pGvaArqs (the reference video)

Sanghyuk hears the doorbell. “Coming!” putting his mug down, he jogs to the front door to get it. However, once he swings it open, no one is there.

“Hm?” he is quick to dismiss that it may be the kids from the neighborhood pulling some pranks on him, but as he is about to close the door again, he sees an envelope placed at his feet. There is a dried rose, neatly laid on top of it.

Curious, he crouches down and then only he sees his name written on it with cursive handwriting. Confirming that he is the receiver of the letter, he takes it inside, locking the door behind him.

Inside the envelope, there’s a card, postcard-sized. On it is a picture of a wooden marionette in a white knee-length dress, lying down under the spotlight, the gesture looks sad, it’s like she is trying to console herself, hiding her face in her arms. On top of it, there’s a promotional title written with the classic block letters: ‘Mary’s Grief: a puppet show’. Intrigued, he flips the card and he sees the invitation, addressing Mr. Han Sanghyuk (which is him), to come to the show. The location is like a few streets down from his home, he thinks, why not. Under the location, there’s a small note that reads: “Come whenever you feel like it. Mary will patiently wait.” and that’s when Sanghyuk realizes that there is no date and time provided. Cool.

\--

Sanghyuk takes a good last look at the mirror and fixes his hair. He has never been to a puppet show before and this is honestly quite exciting. Honestly, at first, he is a bit skeptical about it. What if he’s going to be kidnapped? But there’s this one time when he was having his usual morning jog, he purposely took a new route to take a look at the show’s location -at least if there’s an emergency, he’ll know his way home- and to his surprise, it was just another normal house. He saw an old man coming out from the garage, holding a wooden doll in his hand. Before Sanghyuk could greet him, the old man saw him, and with a friendly smile, he called out “oh, Mr. Han!”. The old man walked towards Sanghyuk who returned the smile. “I’m assuming you’ve received the invitation. Are you here for the show?”

“Ah, yes, I did! But no, no, I am having my morning jog and I think I turned up here without me realizing,”

Sanghyuk then learned his name, Mr. Kim. He talked with friendly Mr. Kim, and Mr. Kim showed him the doll that he just finished polishing. Sanghyuk is amazed at the detailed woodwork. Mr. Kim has been making and selling dolls and puppets for more than 30 years as he started during his early 20s. As he is getting older, he feels like he wanted to make younger people interested in it as well, so he decided to hold puppet shows and exhibitions at his house for free. And for the “feel” as phrased as Mr. Kim, he invited people with handwritten postcards although Sanghyuk is sure it’s because he doesn’t know how to promote his show on the internet. Of course, Sanghyuk didn’t miss the chance to ask Mr. Kim, how does he know him.  
“I’ve been here for how many decades, of course, I know everyone. I know who leaves, I know who just arrives. The neighborhood is not that big either,”

Sanghyuk has heard stories about an old man who has lived here all by himself since forever but, not much a gossiper himself, he didn’t really care. 

“Will you come, Mr. Han?”

“Please, just Sanghyuk, and yes, of course I will,”

“Great, I’ll let Mary know that you’re coming. We’ll wait for you patiently,” Sanghyuk laughed at that and bid him goodbye.

And here he is again.

Quite surprisingly, the house doesn’t seem as creepy at night as Sanghyuk thought it would be. He walks through the lawn and knocks on the front door. Not long after, Mr. Kim greets him. Mr. Kim is wearing a checkered light blue shirt, tucked in his pants, suspenders, and a red bowtie, just like a puppeteer. Sanghyuk smiles to himself and hands him a bouquet of roses that he brings along.

“Oh, you don’t have to, Sanghyuk,”

“No, it’s for you. It is an honor to be invited to a puppet show by you,” Sanghyuk means it. To be invited to a free puppet show by such a skilled puppeteer is something very honorable. The passion, the skills, and the love Mr Kim has for his craft deserves his respect. Heck, he deserves the whole world’s respect for it. Yet, he’s not sure if he is the one who deserves to be the audience for this respectful, humble man and not spend a single penny for it. He could have easily been charged and he’d gladly pay as well.

“You are so sweet, Sanghyuk. Come on in,”

“Aren’t you waiting for more people to come?”

“Sanghyuk, to have someone to come is already a rare miracle for me. I’m sure it’s just you tonight.”

Sanghyuk senses the sad note of his voice. Not willing to talk about it further, Sanghyuk nods and follows his lead.

The layout of the house is supposed to be exactly the same as Sanghyuk’s house, considering the same neighborhood they are in, however, Mr. Kim has had it renovated into an actual puppet museum and Sanghyuk is utterly amazed at how different it is.

Sanghyuk is standing at the entrance of what he recognizes as the living room area. He looks around, astonished at the number of puppets and dolls displayed in the area.

“This is amazing!” 

The whole room is covered with black cloth from the ceiling and the floor with black carpet. According to Mr. Kim, black can enhance wood color, making them come alive. It’s true because Sanghyuk sees the wooden doll that Mr. Kim showed him the other day and it looks much better. Sanghyuk is in awe, there are small wooden dolls which are made solely for display purposes, some wooden puppets, marionettes of all sizes, from as small as a toddler to as big as half of him, all these are separated into sections by display cabinets in which a series of dolls with different completion status are displayed to visually show the step by step process of how each doll is made. Sanghyuk can’t hide his excitement, he keeps on praising Mr. Kim on how amazing everything is.

He reaches a human-sized marionettes section and it honestly creeps him out a bit, but it can’t compare to his amazement at the details and so human-like these puppets are. There are five tall glass box displays, each of them housing a puppet man around his height. They are shiny and glossy like wood but he can’t really tell. Unlike other puppets, they are wearing real clothes. All of them are wearing old fashioned prince outfits. Sanghyuk glances upwards to look at their faces, they all have a sad expression. Hints of pink airbrush decorated each cheek, mouth straight cut, expressionless. And it shocks Sanghyuk when he sees the eyes. Behind the heavy eye makeup, they look sad, Sanghyuk swears he can almost see the emotion in them.

“They look so real,” Sanghyuk unknowingly mutters.

“They are my proudest work yet,” Mr. Kim taps the glass.

“Do you want to hear their backstories?” Mr. Kim cautiously suggests, probably he thinks Sanghyuk is not interested, but Sanghyuk nods enthusiastically, eyes still trained on the display.

“Once, there is a strong, kind-hearted man, who came to win the heart of a girl named Mary. The man promised to make Mary happy and he did. However, as if he was cursed, their love did not last long. Just like how surprisingly he came to Mary, he died. Mary was heartbroken again. Then came the second man, just like the first man, their love was short. And Mary once again was heartbroken. All these men came to console Mary, they made Mary happy, but the same thing repeated, over and over again,”

Sanghyuk is stunned.

“That is heartbreaking,” Sanghyuk looks into the eyes of this puppet in front of him, the golden label reads ‘#3: Ken’.

“It is,” Mr. Kim says.

“Is that why it is called Mary’s Grief?”

“Let’s go,” Mr. Kim nods and holds Sanghyuk’s hand, guiding him into a small room. Inside, there’s a couch and a few feet in front of the couch is a small stage covered with a red curtain. Next to it is a staircase and Sanghyuk realizes it leads to the control room where Mr. Kim will control the puppet.

“Enjoy the show,”

Sanghyuk nods and takes his seat.

Mr. Kim walks up the stairs and Sanghyuk hears the control room door closes with a click. The lights are switched off and the spotlight shines directly to the stage from behind Sanghyuk.

Not long after, a soft, sad, beautiful music plays, and the curtains are drawn open.

There it is on the stage, lays the same marionette from the invitation card. The gesture is exactly the same. It’s Mary. Sanghyuk sees the white threads connecting the limbs being pulled carefully in coordination.

Mary dances to the beautiful music. It’s amazing how Sanghyuk can feel the sadness despite the stoic, expressionless, wooden face. From her twists and turns, her dress waves together along with her petite body. Mary dances like she wants to tell Sanghyuk how lonely she is, the aching she feels of being left alone. It breaks his heart. Without Sanghyuk realizing, he’s actually tearing up.

The dance almost comes to an end when Mary sits back to her original position and the smoke machine turns on, together with the curtains closing.

Sanghyuk stands up to give a round of applause but right after he gets on his feet, his head spins.

And Sanghyuk sees black.

\--

Sanghyuk wakes up in a wooden chair when he feels the agonizing pain throughout his whole body. He wants to scream but to his surprise, his lips are glued shut. He tries moving his body but to no avail, all he can feel now is shooting pain. As if his limbs were detached from his body except that they are still hanging, useless. No, he is sure his limbs are disconnected. It’s so painful that all he can manage is to let out a whimper and cry.

He hears the door open and Mr. Kim walks in.

“Oh, you’re awake,”

Sanghyuk wants to scream. He really does. He looks at Mr. Kim with hope that he will help him stand up. He stares when Mr. Kim walks slowly towards him, holding a syringe and injects the clear liquid into him. It’s probably anesthetic as Sanghyuk starts to feel the pain fading away and he gets a little bit hazy.

“I ran out of this earlier so I went out to get some. Luckily, the painful part is done. I’m sorry, now it’s okay, right?”

In the haze, Sanghyuk tries to make out a ‘why’. 

Mr. Kim does not answer, instead, he stands up and brings a full-body mirror to Sanghyuk.

“Look at you, you’re beautiful,”

That’s when Sanghyuk sees.

He has changed into a white, ruffly prince outfit. His face is decorated, painted with makeup to make him look alive. Hair neatly combed and slicked back. And what completely horrifies him is that there are threads, connected to his dislocated joints hanging from something above him. He quickly realizes that he is on the stage behind the curtain. He looks oddly familiar.

He’s reminded of the 5 men in the glass boxes.

Sanghyuk mumbles and whimpers, a futile attempt to escape.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, don’t be nervous,” Mr. Kim pats his head lovingly.

Sanghyuk cries harder.

“I don’t want to add the dose, or you’ll end up sleeping and not meet Mary,”

What?

“Let’s continue with part 2,”

Mr. Kim leaves Sanghyuk and runs up the stairs.

The part 2.

He’s in the second part of the Mary story.

To his horror, the music plays from above him. And he sees the curtains draw open.

There, the couch he sat before. His clothes are there. Neatly folded and placed on the couch.

He can’t move his head, it’s connected to a thread and it’s pulled taut to refrain him from moving freely.

He can’t feel anything but he notices his right arm is lifted mid-air, and Mary comes flying onto him. Now that he can see Mary up close, he realizes how haunting the expression on her face is.

Mr. Kim comes down the stairs and clears his throat.

“Oh, young man,” he starts, and Sanghyuk cries harder. It’s really happening. Mr. Kim has a character too.

Sanghyuk panics and cries and cries and cries. He wants to leave. Mr. Kim monologue fades out in the background. He doesn’t want to listen anymore. He just wants to go home. This would not happen if he doesn’t read the invitation. This would not happen if he ignores it all. Why did he do that? Why did he come here? He should’ve seen the sign. Why? Why?

“...You love my daughter, and with her, shall you spend the rest of your life,”


End file.
